By Peggy Goh

The day has finally arrived. The start of my solo adventure in a foreign land, alone in Ulaanbaatar, the palpitating heartbeat of this country. Baaraa, my sweet Mongolian fixer opened the boot of his car, revealing a box full of vegetables, some bread, coffee and tea. “The nomads don’t eat vegetables, only meat, meat, meat!” he said. I was intrigued. The lifestyle, culture and the different habits of the legendary Mongolian nomads I know little about.

I am heading towards a nomad family who was about 170 kilometers away from Mongolia’s capital and as the car leaves the jam packed streets of Ulaanbaatar, I was slowly transported to the raw authentic untouched beauty that Mongolia is well known for. A stark contrast to the bustling capital city where about 45 percent of the Mongolian population lives. Endless mountain ranges and clear blue skies greeted me along with flocks of sheep and goats who seem to know exactly the etiquettes of crossing the roads of Mongolia. With the ethnic Mongolian music roaring in the background of the car, I slowly ease myself into the rhythm of the rural country life that really piqued my curiosity and interest.

A small quaint looking brick and mortar house and a big animal paddock situated in the middle of the grassland slowly pulled into view and reveals itself as the car comes to a halt. Nothing too fancy, away from civilization, nestled and tucked into a spot on the beautiful grasslands of Mongolia.

I see a lady in a yellow knitted top with a big hearty smile near the door waiting to welcome us in. Her hair is tied up and she has an oval shaped face with fair complexion and a frame and posture that makes her look really tough. “Ah, here she is!” as I thought to myself nervously as this is the woman I would be getting to know pretty deeply over the next few days because she is the reason why I am here. Her name is Unuru.

As I was growing up, I have always been curious about how women from different parts of the world live. How different is it from me? A city girl from Singapore. I’ve read articles about the nomadic women in Mongolia taking care of their herds of animals while also looking after the domesticated parts in their homes. I was intrigued by how strong, independent and resilient they are, doing so many varied things each day. I wanted to follow my instincts that their stories would give me fresh new perspectives and inspire me in my way of living. I wanted to find out for myself and learn from them.

Unuru told me that since ancient times, their nomadic lifestyle has been passed down and they really love this culture. They have to continually migrate to find pastures and water because of how closely linked the nomadic lifestyle is with the environment. Unuru’s family relocate four times a year, during the four seasons, but it’s not a difficult task to them because when the pasture is subpar, migration is essential.

Unuru’s parents have always been livestock herders. When she was younger, she assisted her parents during school vacations, and she would observe closely while they worked. She practised every single thing that she learned. There is no standardised method for performing the work that she does. The work that they accomplish each day is hugely influenced by the day’s weather. For example, when it is terrible outdoors, they move quickly to the animals. If the sky is clear, they move calmly. It is a habit to move and they have to be extremely adaptable. They don’t live in the highlands because their animals get birthed in the spring. Low-lying pastures close to good quality water are considered spring pastures. It’s not difficult to keep livestock in the region they chose. Unuru’s parents warned them that when it is extremely windy in the mountains, the animals become quite tired.

I found out from our translator online tonight that we are actually moving from our winter home to our Spring Ger tomorrow! I wasn’t expecting that and I was really excited to see how it is going to unfold.

A blue Hyundai tray truck pulls in near to the door of our winter home. The Mongolians got into their quick rhythm of packing. They seem to be so familiarised with the nitty gritty of what entails during this move. What to put first in the deepest end of the tray truck, which furniture or items are the most suitable to be on the base, and how to perfectly fit and align everything. Something interesting that really fascinated me was them using flat steel sheets, bolts and nuts to cover up their transparent windows securely. It seems like it will be awhile till they are back here in this warm and cosy home.

After driving for about an hour or so, we have reached the Mongolian ger! A medium sized round structure, domed tent-like dwelling, that can be quickly assembled and disassembled due to the nomads’ regular moving lifestyle. It was still a skeleton, as it was still bare inside. It did not take long for everything to get sorted as a couple of friends and neighbouring nomads came to help set up the ger. We put up the inner layer of the cloth and brought in all the furniture from the winter home. The significant last step was putting in the long chimney stove, which is situated right in the middle of the rounded ger. It is pretty symbolic as it is where the fire burns, where the cooking happens, and where comfort and warmth is provided. It was just an incredible experience for me to witness how the nomads move.

A new day, a new beginning of possibilities. As there is a language barrier between us, I am on this adventure of not knowing what the daily plans are. This also made me more eager to want to find out what is always happening next.

Today, I followed Unuru on one of her tasks as she headed out of the ger. I followed her closely as she walks towards the animal paddock with a wheelbarrow, rake, gloves while decked in her farming outfit. She looks ready. It is about ten in the morning. When we reached the paddock, we were greeted by dungs of all sizes and textures. Some dried dungs were bigger than my face, I kid you not. I swiftly analysed what Unuru was doing and tried to pick up what she was doing. She probably saw how keen I was and tried to explain to me what she was doing while her hands and feet were still moving as quickly.

As a girl raised in a city, I didn’t grow up in a farm and this is the first time in my life learning how to differentiate between horse and cow dung. Unuru uses her rake to point out exactly which are the horse dungs and cow dungs! The horse dungs are pretty solid and compact looking, like in a huge water droplet liked shape. As for the cow dungs, they were layers similar to a mosquito coil and it’s significantly flatter and spread wider. We seem to be collecting a specific type of dung, as I have heard that the nomads use dried animal dung as fuel for fire!

So what we are currently looking out for are whiter and drier cow dungs as fuel for the fire as they burn more easily. “Black, no! White, yes!” Unuru told me as she chuckles in the background. I think she must have found it fascinating to communicate this to a city girl who seems clueless. As we went around the whole paddock picking up the dungs, it dawned on me that this is what sustainability really looks like in this setting. They use something that we humans generally avoid to keep the fire going, to keep themselves warm and to cook. One of the articles I have read also mentioned that any meals or dairy products cooked on a hot stove and dung fuel taste a lot different than other cooking methods. The usage of dried dung has become significantly intertwined with the nomads’ culture and way of living.

Unuru shared this with me with a huge beam on a face and a look of satisfaction. “You can live however you like thanks to the clear, blue skies and fresh air. My sense of joy gets deeper when I’m near nature. The nomadic lifestyle is challenging, yet it appears to give us the happiest way of living.”